Like Ice
by mystic-Hoshi
Summary: /AU/ Toris' dream partner on ice is of course, Natalia. But the partner that she wants is her brother, Ivan. A single decision started everything... /Lithuania x Belarus/
1. Prologue

A/N: I went skating today…the first time in years! Well I wanted to skate since last winter…and then I wanted to go this winter…and today was the last day for the public skating near my place so I had to go or else wait for next winter. Talk about procrastinating! Well…I guess I haven't updated my other chapter stories for years either so….what does that say hahaha. Anyways, after skating I got this idea. And you know, the Vancouver Olympics. =D I really enjoyed the figure skating and dancing, so pretty. ;_; Ah…I can't wait for Sochi. ^^ Onwards to the story!

...

With the wind increasing against his face, Toris dashed to the other end of the skating rink. He loved the feeling of the cool breeze against his skin as he skated around the area he was most familiar with. He had been training at this rink for the past few years, ever since he wanted to be a professional figure skater. Well, he thought that having a partner would be nice, but he didn't want to partner with just anyone. There was always one person on his mind but he knew it was impossible to begin with so he stopped thinking about it. Well, at least he _tried_ to.

Nevertheless, he couldn't help but feel a bit jealous at the athletes that had really good partnerships. He was envious of how well they worked together on the ice, and how they always had someone to skate with during practice. He also noticed that many of them were childhood friends and even lovers.

He slowed down before turning onto the side of his skates, just gliding along. He started skating around slowly, trying to catch his breath. His coach said his stamina was good, but if he improved it more, then it would be even better.

Toris shook his head, 'I'm thinking about those things again…I should just concentrate on my training.'

Actually, he had tried getting a partner before, but he didn't work well with her at all. He just wanted to try skating with a partner even if it wasn't the person he had in mind so he tried his best. In the end, she was the one that quit first, leaving him slightly frustrated. After that incident, he just gave up and focused on the singles competitions.

He sighed, feeling dejected as he was every time he thought about those issues. He leaned on the rail, pausing a bit before doing his stretches.

"Practicing so early in the morning, da?"

Toris froze, recognizing that familiar voice. He turned slowly, not wanting to face him today as he didn't feel good. "G-good morning Ivan. Are you practicing as well?"

"Da." He chimed, smiling that icy smile of his.

Toris forced a laugh, feeling really uneasy. "Well then, I'm gonna continue…"

"Why don't we skate together for a bit?" He laughed his signature childish laugh, the one that Toris disliked. Every time Ivan did that laugh towards him he was up to no good. But there wasn't much Toris could do; he was used to being bullied by him since they were kids.

'I can't believe he's still around to bully me even to this day…' Toris thought gloomily, before responding to the taller man, "Uh, sure…"

They started skating around the rink, Toris slightly dragging behind the tall Russian skater. Ivan looked back at him once in awhile, smiling and trying to start small talk. Toris responded as best as he could, but he was really feeling out of it and dealing with Ivan always took so much energy out of him.

Just when Toris was thinking up an excuse that would get himself away from Ivan even for just a moment, he heard some growling behind him. The sound of skates slamming on the ice was getting closer and closer as well, and the next thing he knew was that a force smashed into his back. He staggered forward and fell on the ice, using his hands to somewhat break the fall.

"Oucch…" Toris groaned, his face merely millimeters away from the ice. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, his hands feeling slightly sore. As he looked up to see who his attacker was, he said, "What was tha-" He stopped as soon as he recognized who it was.

A beautiful young girl was standing beside Ivan, clinging onto his arm. "Brother I did not know you were coming so early in the morning to practice. Why didn't you tell me?" She smiled at him sweetly.

At least, in Toris' and her own perspective it was a sweet smile. Ivan looked horrified, "Na-Natalia…what are you doing here?"

"Hehe, that's a silly question brother. Of course I'm here to practice."

Ivan laughed uneasily, "Da, of course…um, I have to go practice now." He started to inch away slowly.

Natalia tightened her grip on his arm, saying eagerly, "I'll come with you."

Ivan shook his head furiously, "No, no need!"

"But brother-"

Before Natalia said anything more, Ivan pushed her away and sped off, escaping to the door of the rink and then rushing off to another. Natalia was trying to find her balance but ended up falling on her behind anyways. Toris got up quickly from where he was sitting and went over to her, worry in his voice, "Natalia are you okay?"

She glared up at him in response, as usual. Toris offered his hand to her, but she didn't take it and got up, dusting ice off her pants. She faced him and practically spat out, "Stay away from brother!"

"Um…I'm trying." Toris weakly replied, to some extent his answer was true. Why would he want to be near Ivan in the first place? He was the one that enjoyed bothering him. Aside from that, getting away from him seemed almost impossible as they both had similar time tables.

After one last glare, Natalia stalked away and proceeded to follow her beloved brother. Toris sighed as he watched her go away. Seeing as how things were like this since forever, he knew Natalia would never ever agree to be his long term skating partner. He also knew the only partner she wanted was Ivan, but at the same time he couldn't just give up hope that maybe…just maybe she would change her mind.

* * *

A/N: Ohhh and that's it for the first chapter/prologue. For some reason I'm really excited about writing this. o_o Um, but still, I might never update this again. Orz

Also, I know that usually in fanfics Liet calls Russia and Belarus as Mr. Braginsky/Russia-san and Miss Belarus or something along those lines, but since the setting is AU here, it wouldn't fit for him to call them that (although it sounds ooc even to me xD). Here they're more like…colleagues. So yeah.

I really don't know anything about figure skating and their practice routines and whatever, so please forgive any inaccuracies or atrocities that I may commit. Tips would be nice. ^^ Thanks for reading! Review please? =D

And I mean, who doesn't want to read more about Plushenko!Ivan.


	2. Chapter 1

...

Like Ice: Chapter 1

'Sometimes I wonder why she didn't become a hockey player instead.' Toris had as an afterthought when he rubbed his back. He slightly shook his head again, as a feeble attempt to chase away the unhappy feelings still lingering inside.

"Come on, Toris. Pull yourself together!" He quietly said to himself.

"Pull yourself together? What are you talking about?"

Toris turned to look at who responded to him. "Oh, ah…good morning Sir." The man was standing just outside of the rink but was close enough to talk with Toris.

He sighed, "You don't have to call me 'Sir', you know. Just Jason is fine."

"But Sir- I mean, Mr. Petrov, you're still my teacher. So I should call you that."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah I know. You've said it so many times."

Toris replied with a slight sigh, "And you've told me not to call you that many times too."

"I know but it's just weird okay? Like, I'm not that old am I?" He swung his palm into the air for emphasis on 'old'.

"Uh…I don't think that's the point."

"Ah! Whatever. It's too early in the morning for this."

"It's already ten."

"Like I said, too early!"

Toris laughed, "I thought old people liked getting up early."

Jason covered his face with the palm of his hand, "My gosh…" He looked at Toris for a second before laughing himself, "Anyways, are you up for the training today? You seemed a little down."

"Yeah it's nothing. I'm up for it." Toris sheepishly replied.

His coach looked skeptical, "Hmm…are you sure? You're not thinking about the pairing thing again are you?"

"…no."

"So you were!"

"…did you even listen to what I just said?"

"Of course. That means it's a yes!"

Toris sighed slightly, not out of frustration but in mock annoyance. His coach knew him well alright, and he knew what problem Toris has been thinking about ever since he became his coach.

"Don't worry about it so much…I think eventually you'll find someone! Or you know, you'll make a debut as a fabulous singles figure skater and then all the ladies will come running to you. Then you'll have lots of girls to choose from."

Toris glared, "It's not a dating sim." He covered his face with his palm, "Have you been playing those games all night again or something?"

He looked to the side and shrugged, "Haha, of course not."

Toris just gave him a 'yeah sure' look.

Jason turned back to him in a more serious tone, "But honestly, don't worry about it so much. These things…sometimes, if it comes, it'd come."

Toris smiled softly, "I know. Thanks."

"That's good," he grinned, "Now how about we start off with some triple axel jumps…"

"What?"

His coach laughed at Toris' big reaction at his joke. They started their practicing for the day, but Toris still couldn't quite get the bad thoughts out of his mind. The incident earlier just made him think about it even more. He knew what his coach said was right, and it wasn't the first time he said something like that, but the bad feeling he had just wouldn't go away that simply. All he tried to do was focus on training, which slightly helped.

...

Natalia was frustrated that she couldn't find her brother before she had practice with her coach. He was always quick when it was to get away from _her_.

She grit her teeth as she thought about Toris, 'Why does he like hanging out with that sissy so much?' For as long as she could remember, Toris was always bullied.

'I mean, look at his face, he's just asking for it.' Natalia never felt guilty picking on him either, because her brother seemed to like him more than her.

"Natalia? What are you thinking about?"

"What? Nothing!"

"…It doesn't look that way but do I really want to know," her coach sighed, "Just try to keep a pleasant expression okay? You really need to practice that or else you're gonna scare the judges during a contest or something."

"They might give me a higher score."

"No, they would not," her coach grumbled.

Natalia gave her a blank stare in response.

"Honestly, if you want to be in pairs so badly, then you really have to work on your expression."

"I just want to be with brother!"

"I know, but he doesn't want a partner. You can only-"

"Be partners with him if he agrees. You've said that many times now."

"But you keep complaining."

"Because it's frustrating! Why won't brother just agree."

"Maybe cause he doesn't want to be in pairs?"

Natalia grunted, "If Toris was a girl, he'd probably want to be in pairs."

"What?"

"Nothing!"

Her coach frowned, "You don't have to shout so loudly. Everyone is looking at you."

Natalia said nothing and crossed her arms, a frown on her face as well.

"Anyways…let's continue with our practice. I'll try again and see if your brother changed his mind okay?"

Natalia smiled slightly at that, "Okay. Please do it soon."

"Of course…" Her coach was relieved she calmed down abit. 'It's difficult to handle this girl sometimes,' she thought, 'Honestly, I want to find a partner for her just so I don't have to teach her as much…but at the same time it would be a good learning experience for her. Hopefully she'll learn how to work with people and calm down more.'

...

"Mr. Braginski! Do you have a moment?"

Ivan wanted to pretend he didn't hear that voice, but the lady approached a lot faster than he anticipated, and came into his view before he could rush off. He smiled at her, even though he knew what she was here for, "What is it, da?"

"I was just wondering, if you changed your mind about the partnering thing with-"

"No."

"Ah…um, okay. I'll tell her that…" She nodded and walk off, looking dejected.

In all honestly, Ivan did feel a little sorry for the woman only because she had to coach his sister. He could imagine the hard time Natalia was giving her, for her to approach him on so many occasions when she clearly didn't want to.

He shrugged, 'Better her come and ask me than have Natalia chase me all day ya?' Ivan realized he should leave quickly, if he didn't want to run into her again.

"I'm so glad we don't live in the same house anymore." He said to himself as he hurried off.

Jason saw Ivan scurry away just as he exited the staff rooms. He had overheard the two talking earlier, although the topic wasn't anything new. He glanced around for Natalia's coach, and spotted her not far away. As he approached her he started, "So, I saw you talking to Ivan again."

"Oh hi Jason…" She said with her eyes downcast.

"Uh…are you okay? You look really crappy."

"Wouldn't you if you had to teach a student like mine? And to top it off I have to ask Mr. Braginski about that partner thing practically every other day."

Jason laughed sheepishly, "Like I said you should just agree to what I proposed."

"It sure is tempting now…"

"Then just say yes."

"But…like, it's not like I don't want to but…you know…Natalia will be really upset."

"Well, that's life sometimes. Can't get what you want all the time."

"Well that's true but….it's something I can prevent for her."

"It's not the first time I've said this…but Ivan isn't going to get a partner. He's set on doing the singles, and you must know that by now. So why don't you just get her another partner?"

"She doesn't want another partner."

"But she wants to do the pairs thing."

"…Well…only with her brother, yeah. But I thought it would be a good learning experience for her in general."

"So get a partner for her!" Jason put his forehead into his palm, "It's not that complicated. She's still young, and if Ivan ever changed his mind she could switch right?"

"Just switch? That won't be easy. Unless the partner doesn't mind…"

"Okay let's not worry about that. But, you think it would be a good learning experience right? I think the most important thing for her right now is just that. She can't just chase after her brother all the time."

"Yeah I know…"

Jason quirked his brow, "You know why you're having such a hard time with her?"

"Well…"

"Cause you're too soft! If it was me I'll just tell her what to do and not even ask her. For her types, you can't ask for their opinion because they'll never agree with you if they don't like it. And they won't even try your suggestions at all."

"Isn't that generalizing too much?"

"Maybe…but that's the jist of it."

"I guess it's kind of true…I should just agree to your proposal I suppose…"

"Yeah! It's a once in a lifetime deal you know?"

She nodded slowly, "I…can imagine it would be."

"Oh yeah! I'm gonna make some preparations okay? I'll contact you after and we can talk more about it." He left quickly without another word.

'I'm sorry Natalia…but this is for your own good.' Her coach thought gloomily, although relieved at the same time.

* * *

A/N: Lol what proposal? I think that's pretty obvious… xD Did I put too much dialogue? Seems like there's a lot…

Readers, I would like some advice on writing. xD Actually, this problem has been bothering me ever since who knows when. When I read other peoples' writing, the sentence would be something like this: _"That's good," he grinned, "Now how about we start off with some triple axel jumps…"_

But usually I write like this: _"That's good__**.**__" __**H**__e grinned, "Now how about we start off with some triple axel jumps…"_

This time I went with the first one, but I wanted to know if the bottom one is actually an incorrect way of writing. About time I found out yeah? LOL. And since this is the first time for me switching it…I think it's a bit inconsistent. Sorry about that.

Wow, long author note is long. Please review and tell me what you think!


	3. Chapter 2

...

Like Ice: Chapter 2

"Natalia, we're going to meet tomorrow in the afternoon for something regarding the partner issue."

"Did brother finally agree?" She asked excitedly.

"This is for something else." Her coach replied, slightly nervous at how she would respond.

"What do you mean?"

"That is…I found a partner for you."

"What? Why?" Natalia angrily expressed, "Why would you do that?"

"Look Natalia, asking your brother endlessly wasn't going to help. And besides, this is just a tryout type of thing. Even if you do get a partner right now, it doesn't mean it's permanent. Why don't you just try it for one competition? See if you like it."

"I won't like it and I don't want to try this with some random guy."

"Natalia this will be a good learning experience…I'll still be coaching you as well."

Natalia looked at her angrily, "Why didn't you ask me first?"

"I did suggest this to you some time ago…"

"You did?"

"Yes, because a coach asked if you wanted to partner up with one of his students not long before. The offer was still there."

Natalia paused and thought about it. She vaguely remembered. "But even then you should've told me if you were just gonna actually get one!"

"But if I told you, you wouldn't have agreed."

She pouted unhappily, "Obviously because I don't want to."

"Please, just stay around after morning practice tomorrow and try it out? If you don't like it then it's fine."

"It's not like I have a choice!"

"Oh and um, the guy tomorrow-"

"I don't care who it is." She stormed off without another word and proceeded to the lounge area. Natalia couldn't believe her coach did that. 'For sure that guy is gonna get it tomorrow.' Flames were glowing in her eyes.

'This might actually be fun…' She contemplated with scary thoughts brewing in her head. 'It's like a stress reliever.' She stopped near a couch, still thinking.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a slight movement in the corner of her eye. She turned and saw Toris approaching her with a smile on his face. "Natalia! Just finished practice?"

She glared at him before responding, "What about it?"

"I was just wondering that's all. How was it?"

"Horrible. And you just made it worse." She turned to walk away.

"Ah…have a good day!" Toris called after her. He sighed slightly, thinking about how pretty she was today too. Natalia was wearing regular gym clothes, navy blue with white strips at the sides of her sleeves and pants. She also had a navy blue sweatband which she wore like a headband, and her platinum blond hair cascaded messily around her shoulders. People unconsciously avoided her wherever she went, which Toris thought was rude but Natalia didn't seem to mind, one thing he liked about her. She had a strong personality, and didn't let these things bother her. She was also someone who was hard to miss.

Toris was still in his own little world, thinking about how wonderful she was until Natalia abruptly turned and rushed back towards him. She ran so fast and looked like she was about to crash into him before stopping inches away. This started Toris, and he gaped at her, "Y-yes?"

She stared at him under her bangs, "Have you seen brother?"

"No no! I haven't! Not all day."

She clicked her tongue in annoyance, "Where could he be…"

Toris fidgeted, "Maybe he didn't come in today?"

"No! I'm sure he has to come in today!"

"Something might've come up…"

"Help me look for him."

"Wha-" he was silenced by Natalia dragging him along. She had grabbed his sleeve and yanked him out of the lounge.

"Come back here after you're done," she commanded, pushing him to go.

"Ehh…okay…" He proceeded to the opposite direction of where Natalia was going. The building had two arenas, one large and one small. There was a small café near the entrance of the building, a weight room, and a shop for skates and supplies. Toris thought he should check the café first, since Ivan could be taking a break there. It wasn't too long before he arrived at the lobby. There weren't a lot of people around, so he took a quick peek inside the café, seeing that Ivan wasn't there.

'Why am I even doing this…?' Toris contemplated. What was he going to do if he actually found Ivan? Tell him that his sister was looking for him? He would run for his life instead of meeting her.

He came into the smaller arena of the two and looked around. 'But, since Natalia asked, of course I'll help her.' He smiled to himself, replacing it with a worried look, 'It's just…what would I do…and didn't she tell me to stay away from him?' Toris scratched the back of his head in confusion, 'Ah well, I'm just happy we talked today.'

After his search throughout the building, he rushed back towards the lounge, afraid she was waiting for him. As soon as he turned the corner he saw her standing in the hallway, with her arms crossed and her foot tapping the floor impatiently.

Toris hurried over, "Natalia, I'm sorry I took so long."

"You should be. You didn't see him did you?"

He shook his head, trying to catch his breath.

Natalia clicked her tongue, "Whatever. I should just go over to his apartment."

"Um…don't you have to go to school now?"

"I'll just skip."

"What? That's not-"

"It's just school. Besides, it's not even an important year."

"Well, I guess but…you already skip homeroom for practice. You'll see Ivan tomorrow."

"I need to see him today! And who cares its Friday anyways." She ran off without another word.

"Today? Can't you go after school?" Toris called after her, but she was out of earshot. He sighed, worried about her, but he had to go to school. His classes were in the afternoon so he wasn't missing anything. Since he was in university he could schedule his classes according to when he was available, but Natalia was still in high school and often missed her homeroom or some other class for skating practice. It was difficult to train and go to school at the same time, Toris knew. He also had a feeling that Natalia skipped a lot. Toris looked at the time. It was getting late, and he had to get to the bus stop.

As he walked over to the stop he thought about what his coach said to him during practice.

...

"_So um, why are we meeting in the afternoon tomorrow?"_

"_Do you really want to know?"_

"_Uh, yes?" Toris was unsure of where this was going, "Usually we finish early for this week right?"_

"_You'll find out tomorrow, okay?" His coach patted him lightly on the shoulder. "Oh yes you will."_

"_You're making it sound suspicious…"_

_Jason laughed, "Really? Well, just know it's something good."_

_...  
_

His coach refused to tell him anything else, which he thought was unfair and frankly, not the correct way of doing things. He had the right to know after all. He didn't really mind that much –well maybe he did- but he tried to just treat it like a surprise.

Toris was about to exit the building when he heard someone greet him. Turning around, he recognized that person as Natalia's coach. She waved at him, "How was practice?"

"It was good," he replied. Toris wondered why she greeted him so suddenly. It felt strange because they never really talk.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then!"

"Um, yeah…?"

She smiled at him and walked off. Toris stood there for a moment, not quite understanding what she meant. Technically he might see her tomorrow because they practice in the same area, but why did she come up to him all of a sudden?

Toris decided he should ask her, since he might've missed something. He went after her, tapping her shoulder. She looked at him in response, "Yes?"

"Is there something in particular happening tomorrow?"

"Just the tryout I believe?"

"Tryout?"

"For the partnering. Didn't Jason tell you?"

"…he…did. I suppose."

"You look surprised."

"Really…um, who is the potential partner?"

"It's Natalia. Aren't you two friends? I saw you guys talking either too."

Toris stared into blank space. He vaguely wondered if he was hearing things. He would've continued staring if the lady didn't wave in front of his face, "Are you okay?"

He snapped out of his stupor. Blinking a few times, he said in a distant voice, "…yeah."

She looked at him worriedly and thought, 'It couldn't be that he actually didn't want to partner with Natalia, but his coach just set him up for it?'

Actually, she was surprised when Jason approached her about the potential partnership. She knew what he meant by a 'once in a life-time' opportunity: no one had ever asked Natalia to be a potential partner. Besides the obvious reasons of her not looking for any other partner than Ivan, her coach knew it was because she didn't work well with others. Although Natalia technically never had an ice partner, she just had that feeling from how she socialized with people. Many others probably felt the same way.

'If the both of them don't want to do this maybe we should just cancel it…' she thought glumly.

She glanced at Toris, who still seemed to be in a daze. She started, "If you don't want to have the tryout then it's okay. I can tell Natalia about it." She realized as an afterthought, 'She would actually be happy.'

Toris finally turned his full attention towards her, "Oh no! That's not what- that's not, uh, I-I didn't meant that! Actually I was just a bit surprised…t-that's all! So…please don't cancel it."

She was slightly taken aback at his outburst, so she nodded slowly, "I just…wasn't sure."

He smiled sheepishly at her, "Sorry."

In her thoughts she was surprised, 'There's actually _someone_ who really_ wants_ to be partners with Natalia…somehow it's difficult to comprehend.'

...

Toris couldn't concentrate in his class. At all. He kept repeating the conversation he had with Natalia's coach over and over in his head, making sure he wasn't just hearing things. Even as he bused home he was still deep in thought. As he cooked dinner he remembered that his coach didn't want to tell him anything.

'This must be why…he knew I wouldn't be able to keep it off my mind.' He rested his head in his hands as he sat at the countertop. He didn't even notice his friend coming home or that some smell was starting to emit from the pan.

"Like, something is totally burning right now."

Toris looked up at his friend standing in the doorway of the kitchen, and then realized it did smell. He rushed over to the stove, yelling, "Ahhh! Feliks if you knew why did you just stand there?"

"My clothes would smell. And I can't cook anyways."

Toris gave him a blank stare. Of course, what answer was he expecting? "You live in this place. Your clothes are still going to smell."

The food didn't turn out that burnt, it was still edible. As Toris set the table Feliks looked at him worriedly, "Like, you never burn the food. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. Just…" he sighed dreamily as he set the plates down.

"Is this about that girl again?"

"It's not 'that girl', it's Natalia." He went back into the kitchen to get their dinner, putting it on the table as well.

Feliks just sat down across from Toris, who was still standing. "Like, if it is, I don't even want to know."

"But my dream might be coming true soon!" He clasped his hands together in front of himself.

"What do you mean? She agreed to be your partner?"

"Well, I'm not sure about that…but we're gonna have a tryout tomorrow! I'm so excited!" He wanted to do a little victory dance.

"It's just a tryout. Like, that doesn't guarantee anything at all."

Toris pouted at him, "I know but…I'm just happy that I might have a chance. I've been waiting so long."

"Like how many years? Ten?"

"Nine."

"My gosh, so precise. Honestly, I don't understand how you can wait that long." Feliks started to help himself with the food.

"Well I did try to get a partner before…"

"Like that even counts."

"Anyways, let's just eat first." Toris sighed slightly, finally sitting down at the table, helping himself to dinner as well.

...

That night Toris couldn't sleep. He knew he would have trouble with it but he didn't think it would be this bad. He lay there in his bed staring at the ceiling, thinking if it had really been nine years since he met Natalia. He remembered that the first time he saw her, he thought she was pretty. She seemed really quiet at first, and didn't talk to anyone in the skating class. Toris wasn't sure, but it seemed like she didn't initially like skating, and only went there because her parents bought her to the class. Her interest seemed to pique when Ivan came with their mother to watch her.

Toris thought that he didn't actually wait for nine years, but he knew he had wanted to skate with her for a long time. It wasn't anything serious at first either…

'I hope tomorrow goes well,' he thought. He started to continuously roll in his bed, switching from his right side to his left, and back again, "What am I going to do?" He said 'do' with a long string of o's.

There was knocking on the wall, which made Toris stop for a second. He heard Feliks voice come through muffled, "Can you like, go to sleep? Or just stop making so much noise."

"Oh…sorry." Toris just lay on his side, trying not to fidget. He quietly said to himself, "I'm just so nervous."

He pulled the covers higher so that it was under his nose, covering his mouth and chin. A millions thoughts went through his head. He was worried about what would happen if he screwed up. Would he not get another chance? He also thought about things that normally people wouldn't worry about.

'If we're doing a partner routine then…that means…that means we have to touch? But, but, holding hands is pretty normal…it's just…I don't think we'd be doing anything too complicated so…there wouldn't be anything else yet? What if…I have to hold her…waist…' For a second he mentally imagined it, before shaking his head furiously, resisting the urge to roll around. He felt like a giddy little girl thinking about her first crush.

He fervently hoped that he wouldn't make a mistake though, because what he was afraid of the most was Natalia hating him. He couldn't stand it if she looked at him with those piercing eyes of hers. Not for…something like this.

* * *

A/N: I just realized something. Back then when I was in high school I felt that people who were in university seemed really old/distant. I mean, it would be weird if someone in my grade was dating someone from university. xD But well…I reasoned it was different here…because they actually practice and share the same rink, so it wouldn't seem that distant. And the age difference isn't that big either…like, maybe two or three years, but back then for some reason it seemed…a lot. Imagine someone in grade 9 and grade 12. It's only three years yet it seemed like a big gap.

Anyways enough of useless ramblings. -_-;

I think Poland may seem OOC…It's my first time trying to write the way he talks. Orz Please read and review. ^^;


End file.
